The Pastor of a small church in Florida is planning on holding a “Burn a Koran Day” on September 11th, presumably as a commemoration of the September 11th attacks in New York.

Pastor Terry Jones plans on burning over 200 copies of the Koran, and insists that he has no intention of backing down: “as of this time, we have no intention of canceling,” Jones said, adding: “we are not convinced that backing down is the right thing, so on Sept. 11 we will continue with our planned event.”

Should this event actually take place, some officials fear that it would only serve to exacerbate the U.S.’s relationship with Muslims abroad, as well as at home. “It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan. … It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community,” said General David Petraeus, the American commander in Afghanistan.

This proposed event is one of the more striking examples of Americans’ ignorance and intolerance of Islam since the September 11th attacks; even more unfortunately, it is one that could have serious repercussions in the international, as well as the domestic community.